It may still be the height of summer and most sports fans’ attention will probably be taken up by baseball, but it is football that is the nation’s favorite – and the teams and players of the NFL will currently be getting ready for another grueling season. It all starts at the beginning of September and the excitement is definitely already growing.

The Philadelphia Eagles are the reigning champions, after their dominating victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in February. Patrick Mahomes and his team were going for a third consecutive title but it is the NFC team that will now be the target of the rest of the league. Can the Eagles win it all again though?

If you are just learning how to bet on football, you will need to know which teams are likely to challenge Philly this year. The NFL is one of the most evenly-balanced major pro sports leagues in the world, so there will be quite a few teams looking to steal the crown and win Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in California next year.

Can the Eagles Win it Again?

Philly has been a major force in the NFL for a while now but it might be a surprise to some that it has not had everything its own way in its own division over the last few years. There actually hasn’t been a repeat winner of the NFC East for the last 20 years, so there is no guarantee that the Eagles will go all the way in 2025.

That being said, there was not that much to be worried about this offseason and Philadelphia is expected to be staying around until the latter stages of the playoffs at the very least. The division has become a little tougher recently, and there are some very good teams across the NFC now. But pundits and experts are tipping Jalen Hurts to lead his team to another championship, and that seems like a pretty good prediction to us.

Main Challengers

Thanks to the Patriots and Chiefs, the last 20 years or so of Super Bowls have been dominated by the AFC. But it feels as if there is a definite swing across to the NFC coming – and the Detroit Lions are one of the teams leading that charge. They came through two years ago and now look like being the best in a very tough North division. The schedule is difficult though – so just making the Super Bowl will be a huge task.

We wouldn’t want you to think that the AFC is done, however. Baltimore and Buffalo are just two of the top teams there and it is the Ravens that everyone is waiting to see in action. Lamar Jackson is a definite future Hall of Famer and he leads a team that could be the number one in the conference this year.

If the Ravens don’t take the number one spot in the AFC, it will probably go to the Bills. Forever known as chokers thanks to those four Super Bowl losses, Josh Allen is still one of the best QBs in the league and the current MVP. This could finally be the year that Buffalo figure out how to get past Kansas City – and that could mean a trip to the Super Bowl.

Dark Horses

The term “dark horse” doesn’t quite fit with the Kansas City Chiefs, thanks to their recent history of winning everything – multiple times. But that capitulation to the Eagles in the Super Bowl is going to play on a lot of people’s minds and we will wait to see whether Patrick Mahomes can inspire another run at a championship. There will be a lot of changes to the team in 2025 but that defense is still underrated.

Jayden Daniels seemed to change everything for the Washington Commanders last year and he will be back with added experience to lead his team in 2025. If anyone can beat the Eagles to that NFC East crown, it could be him. Was last year an overachievement though? Tampa Bay has one of the easiest divisions to win, and that could see the Bucs continuing to rack up titles and make a play for the Super Bowl. The offense is very strong and the defense is now catching up. Timing a good run in the postseason could really make things interesting.

Long Shots

The parity in the NFL is something to admire, so even these “long shots” could be making deep runs into the postseason. Poor organization and defense gave the Bengals a shocking start last year that was never really clawed back. But, in Joe Burrow, Cincinnati has one of the best QBs in the business, and he has the ability to win a Super Bowl for a team historically on the wrong side of scorelines.

A weak division and a strong quarterback in C.J. Stroud mean that the Houston Texans have to be considered for success. Whether this is a team stronger than the rest in the AFC is the main question over its championship pedigree. Green Bay is another team that could kick on. Jordan Love will need to step up to take the Packers to a divisional title against very strong rivals. If that happens, who knows how far this team can go?

Super Bowl Champions

It still feels a little like Super Bowl LX will be Philadelphia’s to lose. But there are a lot of extremely talented players and teams across the NFL who could easily click in time to mount a challenge this season. Now might be the best time to make predictions, but we will know a lot more by the time we get to around week five of the season about which team is actually going to win the championship.